Decorating

Simple precautions to foil summer burglars

Staging a home to look occupied makes crooks search for easier prey

You go on vacation, and burglars go to work - stealing valuables from temporarily unoccupied homes.

Photograph by: Woldike
, Fotolia.com

The many families planning vacations this summer will not be the only ones making plans. You go on vacation, and burglars go to work - stealing valuables from temporarily unoccupied homes.

Sure, you can install sturdier locks, deadbolts and bars, and there are some fairly sophisticated alarm systems to alert authorities to intruders, but an effective deterrent is a pair of very large shoes.

Seriously, head down to your nearest thrift store and buy the largest pair of men's shoes or boots you can find. (I just use my own shoes, size 18. Just kidding, ladies.)

Actually, buy two pairs. Place one pair of over-sized kicks beside the front door and position the second pair at the back or side door.

To complete the ruse, hang a couple extra-large foot-ball jerseys from a backyard clothesline.

Few cowardly night-creeping miscreants will be willing to risk breaking into a house where a hulking, nail-spitting homeowner might be inclined to open up a can of painful whupass on them.

Here are some simple precautions, in no particular order, to help keep burglars out of your home this summer:

- Lock and bolt all windows and doors. In more than 40 per cent of residential burglaries, the thieves entered the home through an unlocked window or door.

- Rekey the locks if you have recently moved into a previously owned house or condo. You don't know who might still have a key to your place.

- Do not hide keys under the mat, in planters or a fake rock. Thieves know all the tricks. Instead, give a spare key to a family member or trusted neighbour.

- Make friends with your neighbours. Statistically, neighbourhoods where homeowners are concerned about their mutual safety have lower crime rates.

- Home security and surveillance systems range from basic to sophisticated. Talk to a security specialist about what system best suits your specific needs and budget.

- Place security warning stickers on all windows and doors, and post security signs in your front and back gardens. Visual and repeated warnings resonate with crooks, who will search for easier prey.

- Trim shrubs and trees that obscure windows so a burglar can't use them as a cover. Cut tree limbs that could help nimble thieves climb into second-storey windows. And store ladders and tools in a locked garage or shed.

- This might not be ideal for families with children, but some folks plant roses and other thorny or prickly bushes under windows. I certainly wouldn't want to crawl in a window above a thorn bush.

- Secure sliding glass doors with a commercial-grade sliding-door lock. Or place a broom handle or piece of dowling cut to fit into the door's bottom track. Do the same with sliding windows.

- Install double-key deadbolt locks in windowed exterior doors.

This prevents someone from breaking the glass and reaching inside to unlock the door. Be sure to leave the key in the inside lock while you are at home so you can exit easily in the event of a fire or other emergency.

- If your home has double-sash windows, drill an angled hole through the top frame of the lower window partly into the lower frame of the upper window, then insert a nail or bolt.

- If you have access to your home from a garage, treat that door like an exterior door - bolt it.

- Ensure the perimeter of your home is lit up like a Christmas tree.

Most burglars don't like to be in the spotlight. Mount lights in out-of-reach locations so the bulbs can't be easily removed.

- Burglars are less likely to break into a home that looks occupied, so stage your property with, say, a watering can, yard bag, children's toys, etc. Ask a neighbour to move the items around occasionally.

- Stop or redirect your mail, and ask someone to remove and recycle any advertising flyers or free regional newspapers that are placed in your mailbox or outside the front door. Ask your neighbour to place your garbage can and blue box at the curb on garbage pickup day.

- Put inside and outside lights, perhaps even a radio or TV, on timers according to your regular schedule.

- Don't change the message on your telephone to indicate you are on vacation.

- Mark valuable items, so if stolen items are recovered by the police, there's a better chance you will get them back. Some crooks might decide it's too much of a hassle to steal marked property.

List your valuables, and make sure you have adequate insurance coverage. If you find, God forbid, that someone has broken into your home, call 911 immediately. Don't enter the home until the police are on scene and they tell you it is safe to enter.

So if all this information has raised your levels of stress and paranoia, sorry about that, but what's that saying about an ounce of prevention?

This column will take a timeout until September. From my secure home to yours, have a safe, enjoyable summer, and I look forward to sharing my constructive thoughts with you again in the fall.

And if any burglars are reading this column, be forewarned. My family and I will be at home this summer, gargantuan boots at the ready to kick your sorry arses.

Peter Simpson is the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders' Association.

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